Historical Frame of Reference

History occupies an enormously important place not only in a culture's collective memory but also in the life of its individuals. We are told time and again that we should learn from history to avoid pass mistakes and as our guide for future actions. We also realize that "history repeats itself," as if history carries with it an inevitability.

Indeed, the reason as to why "history repeats itself" seems to have its own logic. People often derive a sense of their identity from the history they share with others, such as their fellow country men and women. As we have discussed above (regarding "psychological frame of reference"), past experience plays a determining role in our perception and, to a certain extent, our future action. Of course, we are not espousing some kind of historical determinism here and we are not saying what happened to people in the past will definitely dictate their present, as well as future belief, attitude, and behavior. Nevertheless, to varying degrees, history plays a vital and active role in defining or framing the ways in which people construct meanings and, on another level, communicate with others. Otherwise, the hatred and bloodshed among various ethnic, religious, and national groups in the Balkans would not have persisted for more than a thousand years. Similar examples such as this, unfortunately, can easily be found elsewhere in the world.

There are different kinds of history and they help construct our personal history and individual sense of identity that in one way or another would influence the ways we view and do things. These histories may include but are not limited to political history, national history, intellectual history, religious history, social history, economic history, racial history, gender history, family history, and so on. While we cannot possibly list all the histories that can influence how we make meanings about the present and future, it is very important for us to emphasize the fact that every history we carry in our personal lifeworld provides some kind of a narrative in helping us explain how we come to where we are and why. Depending on life experience, current situation, personal aspiration, and a host of other factors, the narratives (or frames of reference in our metaphor) our histories give us can help us transcend unpleasant experiences in the past or keep bringing us back to them.

As for our consideration, we of course cannot possibly learn about all the histories that constitute to the personhood and historical frame of reference of our friends or co-workers from overseas, say, within a short period of time. But it is important for us to be actively aware of the historical frame of reference of our counterparts. And it is not difficult for us to learn about it. Listen very carefully and intently to what your counterparts have to say about their family, their spouse and or children, people of other races and the other gender, people of sexual preferences other than their own, their own country, countries other than their own, and so on. At appropriate moments, ask them why they hold their views and see how they personally relate to them. More often than not, you would get to know your friends (local or foreign) relatively well by listening to what (and HOW) they say about such matters. Their views are a reflection of their historical frame of reference and a sense of how they relate themselves to others.